Norieliz DeJesus

Norieliz DeJesus has dedicated 13 years of her life to community engagement, organizing and advocacy. Through her legislative work she has fought injustice and inequality from their roots and addressed community needs through changes to policy and legislation. Norieliz brings the grassroots to the table, having started her career as a youth organizer in 2008 and working her way up to her position today as the Director of Policy and Organizing at La Colaborativa.

Norieliz has traveled to multiple states as part of the national Jobs with Justice coalition, sharing her skills and experience in grassroots organizing with community organizers in California, Missouri, Texas, Washington and more. She has worked on numerous policy and legislation campaigns that directly address the needs of low-income communities of color across Massachusetts. Locally in Chelsea, Norieliz sits on Chelsea Affordable Housing Trust Fund where she works to create and preserve affordable housing for the residents of Chelsea.

Highlights of Norieliz’s impactful community organizing work:

• Redesigned and passed a new Code Enforcement Ordinance in the City of Chelsea, ensuring all housing units are inspected by Code Enforcement before being rented to new tenants (2014)
• Helped pass the Community Preservation Act (CPA) in Chelsea, bringing increased resources to the City for affordable housing, green space, and historic preservation (2016)
• Helped pass the Massachusetts Housing Court Bill which expanded access to housing courts for 84 communities that didn’t have one (2017)
• Mobilized students, parents, and teachers in Chelsea to pass the Student Opportunity Act, directing millions of dollars in new education funding to Chelsea and other high-needs districts.
• Worked across City departments during the pandemic to create the Chelsea Affordable Housing Rental Voucher and Mortgage Assistance program to keep families in their homes (2020)
• Supported youth organizers to advocate for eviction record sealing. The portion of the bill that protects youth was extracted and signed into law by the Governor in 2021
• Helped to launch a pilot Right To Counsel program in Chelsea, partnering with the City of Chelsea to provide free legal aid to residents facing eviction and other housing issues. Norieliz has been a lead voice in the Massachusetts Right To Counsel Coalition working to pass statewide legislation that would support expanded legal representation for tenants in housing court.